


Horror Camp

by Yogurt_Tea



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Choking, Gen, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, It is more psychological than physical, Max is still the most sarcastic manipulating 10 year old out there, No Sexual Content, Post Torso Takers, Psychological Torture, Suspense, Swearing, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2019-09-15 11:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16932135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yogurt_Tea/pseuds/Yogurt_Tea
Summary: Max just wanted Mr. Honeynuts back, this really shouldn't be a situation that is happening at a fucking summer camp. This is probably the only place on this whole hellhole planet where retrieving a stuffed animal would escalate to kidnapping and whatever it is Daniel wants.OrDaniel kidnaps Max to exact his revenge.





	1. Chapter 1

It goes without saying Mr. Honeynuts is Max’s most prized possession.

So when Max wakes up without the beloved teddy bear in his arms, to say he is alarmed is an understatement.

He goes to sleep with it every night. He always tucks it under his arms, beneath his blankets as a source of comfort. In the morning he hides him inside the pillowcase for safekeeping until nighttime again.

If the bear isn’t in his arms, it can only mean one thing. It means someone entered his tent, took the fucking bear in his sleep and just walked off with it.

This is why he didn’t tell anyone he had a teddy bear. Because of this fucking shit.

Max scowls, slowly getting up from bed. Whatever idiot thought that they were clever stealing his shit while he’s sleeping, they’ve got another thing coming. Since the entire camp knows he has a teddy bear, it’s not like he has to be subtle about it either. Hell he can just say he’s angry because someone had the gall to trespass his tent and steal from him.

He steps out of the tent, not bothering to put on his hoodie.

“Oh are you fucking kidding me.” Max groans. The sun is barely out and there’s a chill in the air. Hell, it had to be like five in the morning. David probably isn’t up, and that’s saying something.

Max grumbles under his breath, heading towards the mess hall. Whoever took his bear probably wants to blackmail him, therefore would be in the mess hall, or eventually show up there. Unlucky for them, he has blackmail on everyone here. Even though some of the blackmail is pretty weak, if he acts like the bear is worth fairly little, he can get his bear back. And as soon as he gets his bear back, he’ll still release the blackmail for even thinking to blackmail himself. That’d show them.

Max keeps walking until the mess hall is in sight. He stops in his tracks. There, in the distance, lying abandoned next to the flagpole, is Mr. Honeynuts.

Wow. That just screams ‘trap.’ Seriously, it’s offending they think he would fall for something like this. Fuck this he’s going back to bed. He’ll let David fall for whatever prank this asshole set up. That’d be pretty fun, and maybe then he and the other campers will finally be able to sleep in.

Just as he turns around a human shaped shadow casts over him onto the ground in front of him. Tall enough to only be one of two counselors. Early enough to only be one counselor.

“David I swear to whatever-god-you-pray-to that-” Max turns around, ready to spit fire, but stops at the sight of unnaturally white clothing.

He doesn’t get the chance to scream.

An immense pain strikes at his head. The world spins, then collapses into blackness.

 

~~~

 

The next time Max awakens is to a head-splitting migraine.

The fuck? Why does his entire skull feel like an overused punching bag? And why is he so cold? Where are his blankets? His jacket? He tries to raise a hand to his head but finds something restricting his movements.

He opens his eyes, sluggishly, confused. Instead of his stiff bed in a cheap tent, he sees his arms bound in a wooden armchair, on a metal floor, in a dimly lit metal room.

“Finally! You’re awake.” A laugh resounds in the chamber.

The memories of bleached jeans and a stolen teddy bear come rushing back.

Shit.

Daniel.

His laugh bounces off the thick walls in a maddening chorus. It definitely doesn’t help Max’s headache.

Max narrows his eyes, ignoring the binds uncomfortably chafing his arms, “Why the hell are you back?”

“I’m here for unfinished business, one that I’m sure you remember quite well.”

“What the fuck man! I thought we already established it was David who royally screwed your cult plans over.”

“Oh I know that.” Daniel’s neck snaps to the left with a solid crack, “But after last time, I have a personal vendetta against you as well.”

Max shrinks away in the chair. Fuck. That’s can’t mean anything good. Dammit he can’t start freaking out now. Keeping calm is only edge Max has. He can stall for time before Daniel starts doing whatever it is he has planned.

Daniel’s already permanent grin seems to stretch wider, “Don’t worry Max, I’ve secured you away in a place where nobody will ever find you.”

Max takes a cursory glance around the room. There’s hardly any light in here but there’s the distinct scent of dirt, dust, and... expired cocoa? Is this the motherfucking bunker again? God he’s surrounded by idiots.

“Can you at least try to not be a stereotypical madman?” Max sneers, “Can’t you be at least a little more original?”

Daniel doesn’t let up his smile, “So snarky. You don’t seem to understand the situation you’re in. You’re trapped like an animal, and about to be cut up like a pig.”

“Seriously, why not David!?” A slight undertone of panic enters his voice, “He’s such a baby you could just wave a knife and he’d start crying.”

Keep talking, keep talking. Please don’t come over here, please don’t come closer.

“Oh but he’s undergoing a different type of torture. He can hear everything.” Daniel starts walking closer, much to Max’s alarm, “He has no visuals, but he’ll hear every last scream, knowing he’s completely helpless to save his favorite camper.”

Max processes the information. David’s listening. Someone knows he’s in danger. There’s hope for him.

“Unfortunately for you, you are most certainly my least favorite camper.”

Daniel steps closer. A terrible pit of fear builds up inside. Holy shit. Out of all the stupid things to happen in this camp, this is quite arguably, the worst.

Max pushes down the urge to scream for Daniel to stay away, “Oh yeah? You’re an idiot if you think that David even knows how to use any piece of technology. David was probably a tree in a past life.” Please buy it. Please be stupid enough to buy it.

Daniel’s grin grows, and he presses a cold hand against Max’s cheek. Max flinches and struggles against his arm restraints to get any personal space. Every instinct in him is screaming to run away.

“Oh poor Max. You really think you can talk your way out of this... I already know David is going to hear every little thing.” Daniel retracts his hand from Max’s face, but the tension remains.

Daniel’s smile grows impossibly wider, “If you don’t want to get hurt, all you have to do is beg.”

“I’m TEN. Holy fucking shit, you’re actually insane!” Max tries to kick Daniel away, but Daniel simply moves to the side. Damn short legs.

“Not good enough.” Daniel scolds.

Max squeaks. Quick as a flash, Daniel presses a serrated blade right where his hand was previously resting on Max’s cheek.

“Do you expect me to cry or something!?” There is clear panic in Max’s eyes, “Literally _anyone_ else in the camp would be better for this!”

“Now now, you should always say ‘please’ Max, didn’t your parents teach you anything?”

Max is leaning as far away as possible from Daniel, trying to face away, but it isn’t good enough. Daniel seems to get satisfaction in his fear, leaning closer, towering over Max.

Max takes in a breath, “Can you _please_ not place a knife against my face?” The snarkiness remains, yet there’s a wavering in his voice.

“Better, but still not good enough.”

It is only a slight flick of the wrist, but it does the job. Max lets out a yelp more out of surprise than pain. A shallow cut marked itself on Max’s cheek. The cut isn’t deep, hell it doesn’t even hurt that much. He’s hurt himself infinitely worse by tripping over the tree roots. It shouldn’t scare him, yet he can feel his panic grow worse.

This is only the beginning.

Daniel, the sick fuck, relishes the shock registering on Max’s face from the cut. He lowers the knife from Max’s face and instead hovers it directly above Max’s heart.

Daniel taps the knife lightly against his chest. “By the end of this, you’ll wish you took my offer on deciding how you die.”

Max doesn’t even try to hide the desperation in his struggling against his ropes. Goddammit why is he so weak? Why are these ropes so fucking strong!?

He doesn’t succeed in more than chafing his wrists. The chair doesn’t even move more than a slight rocking.

Daniel eyes fixate on the thin streak of blood dripping from his face, “You know... I always liked to keep things symmetrical.”

Daniel moves the knife to Max’s uncut cheek, ready to repeat the same action.

He doesn’t get the chance.

Daniel was careless. This time his hand was positioned directly in harm’s way.

Max bites down on his hand, hard.

Daniel shrieks, dropping the knife and recoils back, taking a few steps and returning much needed personal space.

If Max was of more sound mind, he might glare triumphantly or make his usual sarcastic remark. Maybe comment on how Daniel hand tasted disgustingly like hand sanitizer. But he’s just a scared kid. A scared kid who is growing more and more panicked with each passing second.

Goddammit there is no way he reach the dropped knife from here. Fuck he really needs help. Any responsible adult, or the counselors, or even fucking Space Kid. Just someone.

There’s the radio or whatever Daniel was talking about earlier right? Daniel said that David is on the other end listening. That’s his only chance.

Daniel is still hunched over, cradling his hand, too preoccupied with his own pain to pay attention to Max.

“This place sure is dark.” Max announces a bit too loudly, “And cold, makes me wish I had my jacket. Its like some dusty metal tomb. It’s the perfect place to watch a horror movie."

That's enough clues right? If David can’t figure out it’s the bomb shelter, then he would have to be stupider than every camper here combined.

Daniel stills. He doesn’t grace Max with a response.

Daniel raises his head.

He isn’t smiling anymore.

Slow, methodical, steps. He really looks like the serial killer cultist in this lighting. Normally he just looked like a bleached purist David, which to be fair, is already pretty creepy.

He doesn’t look angry, more like indifferent, disappointed. He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps getting closer.

Daniel stops just short of Max. Examining his own bleeding hand.

“That wasn’t very nice of you Max.”

It’s instantaneous. It happens so quick that Max can’t understand what’s happening until Daniel’s too close and there’s a sharp pain of hands clenched around his neck.

“Really. This is playing out like some Criminal Minds episode. I thought you at least would have made this more interesting.” Daniel’s hands tighten around Max’s throat.

Max gags. Coughs and spurts of breath sound in the room. Pure panic-ridden energy fills him. He needs to escape _now._

But his legs remain kicking uselessly, his arms doing nothing more than trembling in bounds, and Daniel’s hands still pressed against his throat. He’s going to die, he’s going to die, he’s dying.

Sputters and unintelligible hisses echo tauntingly back at Max. He keeps struggling, and he knows he can’t die here. No, there’s always some stupid coincidence that automatically stops whatever chaos is happening. It has to. He can’t breathe. IT HURTS.

“Just say the magic word Max.”

Max doesn’t hesitate, “Puh-pluh-sss.” It barely comes out more than a whisper. Anything to make him let go.

Daniel’s smile returns. It’s the furthest thing from comforting.

Max’s lungs are burning. He needs to breathe. Daniel will let go any second now.

But Daniel’s hands remain right as they were. Strangling.

Anger fuels Max for a brief moment, before morphing back into terror.

Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplease. Air. Air he needs air please stop. STOP. STOP GOD FUCK PLEASE.

Dead. He’s so fucking dead. And the last thing he’s going to see is this motherfucker’s stupid grin.

Max’s struggling weakens. Thinking is already taking too much oxygen. Black edges his vision.

Life is shit, and now he’s about to die in the shittiest way possible. Nothing new to him- hell it’s what he expected- but, maybe he wanted to believe there was something good in this world. That people like David found something that makes them want to continue living on this shitty hellhole of a planet. That maybe there would be something small that would make up for all the shit he’d been served for half his life.

Then, Daniel lets go.

Beautiful, dusty- honestly kind of gross- air rushes back to Max’s lungs. He hacks and gasps. He goes completely limp and just focuses on breathing, trying to get as much air back before Daniel decides to really choke him to death.

“Here I thought murder was the best way of self-care but torture is so much better.” Daniel picks up the knife from the ground, smiling fondly at it, “The best part is that I get to hurt David in the worst way possible. And then I get to repeat another torture all over again.”

Max can barely register the words, still heaving in mouthfuls of air. Jesus fuck he needs to figure out the best way to stall this guy with talking. Anything to give more time for someone to find him. Without another repeat of pain and fear.

Daniel smiles at him, this time pitifully, “Wow, you still think that David is still coming to save you.”

Max grimaces. Why does everyone think he gives a shit about David!? Who the fuck cares if it’s David or not?! Hell, the best rescuer would be Nikki! She could at least sic some wolves on this bastard!

Daniel crouches so he’s eye level with Max, “You’ve been awfully quiet Max. It’s rude to ignore people.”

Max stiffens. What does Daniel want him to say? Daniel wants him to suffer so... then should he break down and cry? Wait- no! Shit if he does that, then Daniel might be just kill him outright. Or torture him to make him scream louder.

Neutral, he should stay neutral.

“I thought it’d be rude to interrupt.” Max bites his tongue. Why did he have to sound so sarcastic all the goddamn time?

Daniel chuckles. Not very reassuring.

“Well Max. That’s very polite of you.” Daniel repeats in the same sarcastic voice, “How about we lighten up the tone? I know a fantastic joke.”

Max forces his shoulders to relax. He just has to keep Daniel talking. 

“If you’re telling me you have a vast array of puns, please fucking don’t.”

“I only have one joke to share! And it’s more than just words silly. It’s a joke you write on your hand. I’ll demonstrate.” Daniel turns around and disappears into the inky blackness. There’s a shuffling a few feet away, and then Daniel returns to the light, holding a blue pen.

Max squints, not quite believing his eyes. Either this is an entirely new form of torture, or Daniel’s religion has some really fucked up ideas.

Daniel raises the pen and starts writing on his knuckles, “You see, the real genius of this stupid joke is how simple it is.” After finishing writing on both palms, he raises his fist to Max’s face to show him what he wrote.

Max blinks, “You wrote T, H, I, S, on your knuckles.”

Daniel smiles, “And a stick figure on my palm! I’m sure you know it.”

Daniel raises his fingers and palms and goes through a series of motions that every public school middle-schooler knows.

“This is Bob. Bob says hi.” Daniel waves his hand as if they’re good friends enjoying a joke, “And this is Bob when a car goes by.” Daniel makes an explosion sound effect and shows his other hand, where a scribbled mess lies on his palm. He laughs at the end of his own joke maniacally.

Max tenses. What is this? What the fuck. Why is Daniel repeating some stupid elementary school joke to him? Daniel can waste as much time as he wants, Max is perfectly fine with that, but that’s not it. This is some terrible foreshadowing.

Daniel smile fades when he looks at his own ink colored hands, “I’m just sad I couldn’t find my favorite pen.”

A pit of dread grows in Max .

“So I guess for your turn we’ll just use a different type of red ink.” Daniel’s takes the knife out of his pocket.

It takes hardly a second for Max to catch onto Daniel’s intention.

“Stay the FUCK away from me!!” Max screams, momentary panic overtaking his rationality. He struggles with further intensity. The cut on his face is already stinging like hell, he doesn’t want another one, he doesn’t want to surrender more.

Daniel grabs Max’s left hand roughly. Max screams.

“Let go of me! Let GO!” His voice is screechy, sounding more angry than scared.

“And here I thought you had some manners.” Daniel shakes his head in patronizingly.

Max struggles, trying his damn hardest to slip out of Daniel’s grip. It’s no use. Daniel’s an adult with an iron grip. It’s as if Max isn’t even trying. He’s never felt more powerless.

Slow. Daniel moves so slow, he places the knife on Max’s finger, slowly putting more pressure. And more and more until a prick of red releases. It hurts so more than it should. Daniel relishes the bead of blood grow bigger and begin to flow. No matter how much Max squirms Daniel doesn’t even seem to notice. Then Daniel drags the blade downwards and it hurts. It hurts it hurts fuck what the fuck it’s just a cut why is he panicking so much!?

Daniel wipes the blade on his own bleached white shirt, marking it a terrible red. He’s smiling again.

That’s one small line on his finger. That’s.... eleven more lines to complete the letters. Just the letters. Not the stick figure and not the scribbled mess that will soon be his slashed palm.

A slashed palm. Over and over again, blade pressing into fresh wounds over and over-

He needs out. He needs an out now.

Think. Think! Goddamn it Daniel’s already angling the knife for the next cut. Daniel was going on and on about saying please. Manners. Why does he want manners? The reason Daniel wants that is... because it goes against Max’s personality? Wait yes! Daniel wants to see him give up his stubborn personality in way of fear. Classic psychopath.

Max swallows thickly,“I’m sorry.” Max murmurs quietly, wracking his brain for the right words, “Please stop cutting up my hand.” The words taste bitter and unfamiliar.

Daniel’s grin freezes, his head tilts to the side, “Why Max, are you saying you’d rather do something else?”

 _YES! Fuck you and your edgy cutting shit!_ Max thinks. Aloud he says, “Talking- I mean, talking would be so much more fun than this.”

Daniel contemplates it for a moment, “Hm. That’s not a bad idea.” Daniel lets go of Max’s bleeding hand and rubs his chin in thought. “I do have a few things I want to talk to you about. I’ll finish my joke right after.”

Relief spreads through Max. So there’s a method to his madness, something that Max can manipulate to stall for time. Once he gets Daniel going, he’ll be giving entire hours for someone to come rescue Max. After all, Daniel was prepared to sing hours for an obituary a few weeks back. Daniel’s pretty fucking stupid for someone who was a cult leader.

Daniel spins the knife in his hand, “I was wondering Max, how do you plan on stalling me?”

Max’s blood turns to ice. Shit.

“I- uh- just wanted to understand everything happening here first.” Quick quick quick, THINK, “I mean, obviously someone as complex and intelligent as you has to have some fascinating thought process.”

Daniel stops playing with the knife, he chuckles, “You must take me for an idiot like David. But I don’t repeat my mistakes, oh no, you can’t trick me this time.”

“What’s so different about this time?” Max asks loudly. David better be listening to this livestream damn closely.

Daniel claps his hands together, “I’m so glad you asked Max! Well last time, I underestimated you, and how much you meant to David.”

Max squints his eyes, as if confused. Daniel ignores it.

“Last time I thought of keeping David locked up while he’s forced to watch you go insane and then die from a tragic murder. But you-” Daniel snarls, “-you ruined my plan. It thought about what I did wrong that time and it always came back to you. You’re the biggest threat, therefore I have to rid of you first.”

“I’m TEN.”

“And yet you proved more competent than David. I think you’ll be very disappointed to see how incompetent your cherished counselor is when he never comes for you.

Max scrunches up his nose in disgust, “'Cherished'? Please, David's a presence I tolerate because he's easy to manipulate.” The lie slips out easily.

Daniel shakes his head disapprovingly, “Don’t lie to me Max. I clearly remember you rushing to save your dear counselor David.” Daniel raises a hand to indicate Max shouldn’t interrupt, “And I already know he’s going to be devastated when he finds he’s too late to save you.”

“The bunker is literally the only place where we could be in an underground room like this.” Max snaps, regretting the words as soon as they come out. The gnawing fear rises up again.

Why did he say that?! He may have revealed his location to David, but he just gave Daniel a motivation to kill him faster.

Daniel hardly bats an eye at Max’s reveal. Instead of panic, he smirks with confidence.

“I meant it when I said that nobody would rescue you Max.”

“Jesus could you stop saying my name? ‘Max this’ ‘Max that,’ it’s getting really fucking annoying.” Max snarls, choking down the worry rising up in him.

Why isn’t Daniel worried? They are obviously at the underground bomb shelter. Where else would have a steel floor within a twenty mile radius of the camp?

Daniel starts pacing through the room, “That’s the true genius of my plan. You see Max, I said that David would hear every word exchanged here, but I never said when.” Daniel giggles maniacally while Max registers the meaning of his words with a growing horror.

Daniel takes his silence as a signal to continue, “By the time David starts listening to this little recording, it’ll be too late for little ol’ you.”

Max doesn’t respond. Choosing instead to stare intently at the cold metal floor instead.

This is great. He’s going to die here. He’s going to die here after being cut up to shreds. A cold sweat breaks on his brow. No- no that’s wrong. It just means he has to stall for a lot damn longer. The camper’s sheer dumb luck will end up saving him. There’s a good chance Nikki or Neil might come down for something stupid. Yeah! Or maybe David or Gwen will be responsible for once, and realize he’s missing! Or...

Daniel shakes his head, as if he can hear Max’s thoughts, “It would take too long for anyone to notice something’s wrong.”

A beat of silence fills the room. The unrealistic hope in Max withers.

“That’s assuming they even notice.” Max mutters, talking around a closing throat. Fuck, he can feel his eyes stinging, the reality of the situation dawning on him.

Who is he kidding. Nobody’s coming for him.

He’d been knocked out for at the very least for an hour, and since it has to be late morning now, his disappearance must have been noticed. They just don’t care. Everyone’s so wrapped up in their own lives to really give a shit. He’ll be lucky if they ever figure out he died here.

He can only depend on himself.

Daniel sighs, “I was expecting more of a reaction.” Daniel pauses, expecting Max to speak up. He doesn’t.

“Oh well. At least I have one thing I think will work.” he disappears into the darkness.

Fuck he needs to get out now. He has to get rid of the binds on his hands first though. The knife is the only thing he can see that could cut his binds but... Daniel has it. And the only time his knife was close enough before was when he had Max’s wrist pinned and was about to carve multiple scars into his fingers.

There’s a clattering from behind Max. It sounds suspiciously like silverware being shuffled around.

Calm. Stay fucking calm. When Daniel comes back he’s likely going to resume cutting up his hands. If Max doesn’t bother struggling, Daniel might let his guard down. And when he does, Max will have a chance to make Daniel accidentally cut his ropes instead. Then once his hand is free he can grab the knife, free his other arm. All before Daniel can grab him or take the knife back, like some Mission Impossible type of stunt...

God what a shitty fucking plan.

Daniel steps back into the light, holding a knife. A bigger one, therefore scarier.

A reaction. Daniel literally just said he was disappointed by Max's reaction. Daniel has to believe he’s scared, or panicking. Shouldn’t be too hard to fake it.

“...Somebody has to be listening! There’s no way I’m- I’m-” Max sputters. He has to keep acting like this. There’s a chance Daniel will be satisfied with an act of a mental breakdown for a bit. There’s a chance to delay his demise long enough. He's definitely not panicking and there is most certainly no false hope in his words.

Daniel stops mid-motion and smiles. Idling the knife- that is not hurting Max- in his hands “Oh but you are alone Max. All alone with me.”

“I’m not going to die here!” A small sliver of hope forms in Max. Daniel’s letting his guard down because he believes Max is giving up. He can stall.

“No, and I’ll show you just how alone you are.”

Daniel grabs Max’s hand again.

And resumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter will have comfort... but for now, I guess we're going into a horror genre.
> 
> If you don't get the "This is bob" thing with the hands, google is your friend. Or any american public school kid. They'd probably know. 
> 
> Kudos and any thoughts are always welcome and appreciated. I've never really posted this type of content before so I'm interested in what the main thoughts are. Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your day.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s about six in the morning when David springs awake.

He practically bounces out of the bed to the window. The sunrise brings about another day and boy does he have a day planned today! They’re going to go rowing out and have a picnic. What makes it extra special is that they’ll also eat lunch on the boats.

He steps out of his cabin and inhales deeply. Ah the smell of the dew and cooling breeze of the morning, how could he not enjoy it? He should go walk off his extra energy before he sees his campers. He can’t really sit still either, he’s sure the campers will love it out on the lake!

David can’t stop the smile growing on his face. He knows the campers can be unwilling to try new things, but once they get out there, they’ll see how wonderful camp can be!

David walks all the way to the mess hall with a smile on his face. He salutes the flag with eyes shining. Then he sees something odd. Is that...?

He leans down, inspecting the foreign object at the base of the flagpole. Is that a teddy bear? Wait! It’s Max’s teddy bear! He remembers Gwen telling him when Max blackmailed her over her multiple job applications. Gwen was venting the entire car ride to the city after that. But what is the teddy bear doing here? Gwen made it sound like Max really treasured this cute stuffed animal. It’s weird to find it out here, maybe Max forgot it in midst of a scheme?

Well, David can always return it to Max after breakfast. Max will be so happy to have this little guy back, David just knows it!

David takes a closer look at the bear. There’s dozens of stitches and patches. Someone obviously took time out to repair the bear, likely Max. It warms his heart. The thought of Max treating something with so much love and care is endearing.

David will have to hold onto this so it doesn’t get lost. If he left it in the mess hall until Max arrived, someone else might take it, or end up in the breakfast. David can simply wait until he next sees Max to return it.

David continues walking around the camp. It’s his form of coffee. The scenic greenery uplifts his spirits to new highs everyday. There’s birds, squirrels and a few chipmunks by his path. He even spots a group of black beetles! This has to be a sign today will be promising!

David ends his walk at the mess hall. He takes a quick glance inside. Only Nerris and Dolf are there, meaning the rest are still sleeping. That won’t do! He has to rouse them immediately or else the day will slip away.

David does just that. He stands himself right in the center of the campers tents and shouts out his daily morning greeting.

“Good morning campers! It’s another beautiful day full of unlimited opportunities. It’s time to get up and head to the mess hall! Make sure not to dawdle, we planned a very special activity for today!

A chorus of muffled grumbles from various tents respond. Great! That means they’re awake and got the message. Gwen promised to supervise breakfast so he could go and set up the boats. He’s always so grateful to have someone reliable watching his back.

David goes down to the docks, arms swinging and chest held high. They say happiness can be infectious, so he knows some of his spirit will ebb off on the campers, no matter how little!

It takes a bit of effort to get the stored boats out, but David manages. He even finds all the paddles that Gwen said were long lost! They’re even in good condition! There’s a bit of mildew on them, but that’s okay! David will just have to work hard scrubbing them before the campers arrive!

He scrubs and scrubs and scrubs. He’s so focused on his task that before he knows it, he can hear Gwen scolding the campers. He whips out his watch. Wow it’s already noon! David dusts himself off quickly before standing to attention.

Gwen and the other campers walk down the path and arrive at the docks. None of them look too happy.

That can be fixed!

“Great! You’re all here!” David claps his hands together. “I’m sure you all have noticed the boats are out, and for good reason. We’re going out rowing on the lake!”

A collective groans sound from the campers. Only Nerris shows the slightest hint of interest.

“Are we hunting for the legendary lake monster?” Nerris questions.

Before David can kindly tell her that they aren’t going to hunt the local wildlife, Neil interrupts him

“Whose going to be the guy to take the fall?”

“I can do that I am an excellent fall-guy!” Dolf exclaims

A spark of interest ignites in Nikki, “I call executioner!”

Soon everyone is talking over one another with the excitement of a monster hunt.

Oh no. David needs to tell them it’s just a peaceful row around the lake with some fishing! This shouldn’t escalate to anything dangerous involving sacrifices, he and Gwen have to stop-

Gwen puts a hand on his shoulder, “Just let them do their thing. As long as we don’t lose anyone again we have nothing to worry about.”

David ponders it for a moment before smiling again, “Of course! You’re right Gwen, the most important thing is that the campers have fun and don’t get hurt!”

None of the campers are paying any mind to the counselors. They’re currently arguing over who would get the spoils when they kill the lake monster.

Gwen glances around the lake, “Yeah, and on that note. Where’s Max?”

Worry immediately seizes David, “I’ve been by myself the whole morning. Is something wrong? Did something happen to Max?”

Gwen nonchalantly waves a hand in the air, “Ehh, he didn’t show up at breakfast. He usually hangs around the lake when he wants to be alone. I just thought he would already be here."

David’s shoulders remain tensed, “I’ll go find him then! There’s no point in camp bonding activities if everyone isn’t present!”

Gwen’s expression changes to frustration, “David, you are not leaving me with nine kids who are hellbent on drowning one another.”

“But-”

“You’re the one who has lifeguard training and planned this whole thing out.”

“I know- but what if Max got into a fight with his friends and is alone crying-”

“It’s Max David.” Gwen sighs, “Look, if you’re really that worried something bad happened, I’ll go look for him.”

David’s eyes light up, “Really? You’d do that for me?”

“It’s my job David.” She takes a deep breath, “But yes, I am also doing it to give you peace of mind.”

David wipes a tear from his eye, “Thanks Gwen, I know I can always count on you.”

Gwen always has his back, and is extremely responsible. He couldn’t run the camp without her, and he is extremely grateful that he has someone like here.

Gwen waves him off, a small smile tugging at her lips, “Yeah yeah, now go and enjoy your boat trip. I’ll find Max and stop whatever scheme he’s planning.”

She gives him a small thumbs up before walking down the path the main campgrounds.

David turns back to the campers. Now to get this trip going! He just needs to get their attention...

“Hey campers! Did I mention there’s a special surprise I’ve planned for you out at the lake?”

The campers immediately hush. All eyes are on him.

And that is when the true challenge of the day begins.

~~~

 

Gwen likes to think of herself as responsible. However, there’s only so much she can take when she’s working 24/7 on one of the most stressful jobs imaginable. She admits, she slacks off more than she should, but on the same margin, she’s getting paid less than minimum wage. Kids take a lot more time than the six hours a day she’s getting paid.

As much as this would be the perfect chance to kick back and relax, she’s not going to. She’s going to help because she’s contractually obligated to, and because she’s a person with morals.

Hopefully David can keep the reigns on the kids under control. It’s better than having him worry the whole time, or go running around camp yelling for Max. At least with Gwen looking, there’s a chance Max would actually come out.

As she trudges through the path she thinks again as to how odd it is that she hasn’t seen Max. While she didn’t want to voice her own worry to David earlier, there’s something a little suspicious about the whole thing.

During breakfast, she overheard Nikki asking Neil where Max was. Neil just shrugged and said he didn’t know. That set off alarm bells in her head immediately. She thought another revolt, food fight or something worse was going to go down that morning.

But nothing happened.

Breakfast was no more chaotic that day than any other day.

Gwen didn’t think too much of it then, she just assumed Max would be at the docks with David.

If Max wasn’t bothering the other campers, herself, or QM, that would only leave David left for Max to bother. Oddly enough, despite publicizing how much he hates the camp and everyone in it, isolation is not something Max commonly does. Hell, even when Max really does want to be alone, it’s mainly just to get a moment’s peace, nothing major. It’s never long enough for anyone to notice, and it definitely isn’t an early morning event that would make him get up before Neil.

Whenever he disappears, it is always with Neil and Nikki. And while Gwen technically should care more when multiple campers are missing, she believes as long as they’re together, it’s the world that should be scared.

But Max wasn’t with Neil or Nikki. And she later learned he wasn’t with David either. And David never so much as saw him. Nobody has seen Max.

Something is wrong.

She calls around camp, at the various “camps,” the announcement area, the stage- everywhere. Nobody answers. She checks the mess hall again and asks QM if Max ever showed up. He didn’t.

This is starting to look bad. There’s few places Max could be, and fewer where he would want to be.

The final place she looks is the tents. All of them. She comes up empty-handed. She goes back to Neil and Max’s tent to look closer. David would be appalled if he ever knew she went snooping through the camper’s belongings. Which is why he doesn’t need to know.

It takes a few minutes, but she manages to shift through most of the stuff. Neil’s belongings consist mainly of technology junk, while Max’s side if fairly bare. All that’s there are clothes, a yo-yo, and an entire box of chocolate stashed underneath aforementioned clothes.

The candy isn’t surprising, she rolls her eyes. Whatever. When bugs come into his tent to eat him alive, he only has himself to blame.

No, the candy isn’t a surprise, what is a surprise is the lack of something else. Where’s the stuffed bear?

Max couldn’t have lost it on his own, he cares too much for it. If someone took it, Gwen would have gotten a blackmail again. She searched the tent pretty thoroughly. There’s not much to investigate to begin with, so it’s definitely not here. Maybe the bear is connected to Max’s disappearance?

Worry starts to gnaw at her. Whatever the scenario, it isn’t good. She’s still holding the blue jacket in her arms when it hits her.

The jacket is here. Both of Max’s jackets are here.

He never leaves without a jacket.

Something happened to him.

A headache slams into her skull and her breath starts running shallow. Deep breaths Gwen, deep breaths. Calm the fuck down! This is no time to panic- fuck, she needs a Xanax. She curls herself on the ground closes her eyes. She needs to calm down. Just relax and breathe. Breathe.

She repeats this in her head like a mantra. Over and over until the nausea fades and she can stand up again. One thought echoes over and over. This is bad. This is really fucking bad.

Think rationally.

Best case scenario: It’s a stupid prank.

Worst case scenario: Max is dead.

Most likely scenario: Max is hurt and can’t get back to camp. And if they don’t find him soon, he’s going to get eaten by a bear or abducted by angry squirrels. In which either case he would still end up dying.

Dammit, with her luck, Max probably went to the deepest darkest part of the woods and got mauled by the mascot.

She is not going to be responsible for a lost camper. She starts sprinting towards the woods, out of the campgrounds. She doesn’t have time to tell David, he’s likely halfway across the lake by now.

“Max?” She calls, “Max answer me if you can hear me!”

She keeps yelling into the woods. Only the sounds of frightened birds and chirping insects respond.

“Max I’m not going to fill out extra paperwork just because you decide to go AWOL. Get your ass out here!”

She hopes nothing is wrong. She hopes it’s something really fucking stupid so she can just yell at him and be able to forget the whole thing.

Max better be okay when she finds him so she can whoop his ass.

...Goddammit.

~~~

 

The lakeside is beautiful in the evening. With the sunset reflecting off the water in a brilliant cascade of hues, it’s a breathtaking sight to behold, something David wanted to have the rest of the campers see. It’s a shame they were all long gone, and that it was nowhere close to sunset. David is normally springing with energy and cheer but after the disaster that was today, he’s can allow himself to be a bit more tired and disappointed.

How was he supposed to know the fish would attack when they smelled blood!? He’s never seen fish attack a rowboat in all his years at camp! Then he had to stop it from eating the campers, and stop Nikki from trying to bite it. Two of the boats capsized in the process and they were huddled uncomfortably in the remaining two rushing to paddle back to shore. By the time they actually got to shore, everything was soaked, including the lunch he had planned for them. Everyone was wet, hungry, and miserable.

David shivers. Maybe it was a good thing Max didn’t show up today. It was such a disaster that it probably would have hurt Max’s progress. Speaking of Max, David should give him back his bear. It should still be in the boat... David drags his feet to the first boat and lo and behold the bear is still there, in all of it’s soggy glory.

He sighs. He might as well go to the mess hall and return the bear to it’s owner. Gwen’s has to have found him by now, and while Max won’t be happy that his bear is completely drenched, at least it isn’t damaged.

David yawns, right before he sneezes. He should really get a change of clothes. He’s going to make himself sick if he sits on the dock any longer. He remains sullenly sitting at the edge. He’ll head back right before dinner is served. It’s only about five right now, he has another hour to mope before snapping back up to Happy David.

He’s making his way toward the cabins when he spots Gwen in the distance. As soon as she sees him, she starts making a beeline for him.

“David! We’re starting a scavenger hunt right now and I need you to help.”

David blinks, confused, “I’m sorry wha-AH!” Gwen grabs him by the arm and forcefully starts dragging him to the main camp.

“No time to explain! We have to go.” Gwen hisses.

David’s questions die down at the undeniable urgency in Gwen’s tone. He follows. Gwen looks fairly ragged, her hair is messy and dirt dusts her clothing.

She doesn’t let go until they’re right next to the flagpole.

“CAMPERS GATHER UP!” Gwen screeches with ear-piercing volume. There’s no way anyone could have missed it, and yet only Space-kid shows up.

“Hi Gwen!”

Gwen groans, taking in another deep breath, “THERE’S CANDY FOR THE WINNER!”

The reaction is almost instant. Every kid in the camp is there within a heartbeat. They arrive so fast that David is too awestruck to scold Gwen for owning candy.

Gwen claps her hands, “In groups of three- that you are NOT allowed to split-up from, you will be collecting litter in the forest. Whichever group collects the most garbage in the forest gets one box of twenty chocolate bars.”

Chocolate!? That’s a recipe for disaster! Every bug, wildlife creature and diabetwa will be rushing towards camp! He has to stop Gwen before-

“And as a bonus, if you happen to find Max and bring him to me, you automatically win!”

None of the campers take even a second to question it and bolt in an instant with shrieks and shouts of teams and excitement of candy, (or if they’re “too cool” for that, they would slowly skateboard away).

David is left standing with Gwen, alone.

He already knows the answer to the question before he says it, “Gwen, did you find Max?”

Gwen doesn’t meet his eyes, “No.”

“He ran away again?”

Gwen blinks a few times, as if it is a new idea, “I... didn’t consider that. It’s been so long since he’s tried that I thought he didn’t want to anymore.” Her eyes slowly light up as she processes the idea, “That would explain why his bear is gone! He wouldn’t leave behind something with that much personal value!”

“Oh, um- actually I have his teddy bear.” David admits sheepishly

Gwen’s excitement dissipates instantly, “You... what?”

“I found the bear by the flagpole-I swear it was just sitting there!I didn’t want it to get it dirty so I-”

“It was just by the flagpole? No trap or anything?”

“No?”

Gwen brow furrows in thought. She startles David when she slaps her forehead, “Shit.”

“What? What is it!?” David’s own anxiety skyrockets.

“Whoever placed the bear here got exactly what they wanted. Max.” She rubs the bridge of her nose, “And I know exactly who did it.”

“Who?!”

“The Woodscouts.” She groans, “I can’t believe they actually managed to successfully kidnap one of our campers. This is embarrassing.”

“But didn’t Max escape last time he got taken?”

“They probably got lucky this time. Obviously whoever set up the trap has a grudge or business to settle with Max. Plus they already know about the stuffed bear. I mean who else is there? The Flower Scouts?”

“If that’s the case we need to head there immediately! We’ll march right up over there, and politely ask for them to return Max!”

Gwen stares at him unamused, “<i>I’ll</i> go over there and get Max. I can handle the Woodscouts fine alone. You need to stay to watch over the other campers. I’ll be back soon.” Gwen then waves a hand and makes her way toward the Woodscouts camp, leaving David all by himself.

David sighs, in what was supposed to be relief. But he doesn’t feel relieved in the slightest. He supposes he’ll only be able to calm down once he sees Max safe and sound in camp.

There’s a wave of guilt threatening to drown him. How could he have been so careless!? He knew Max had abandonment issues and yet he hardly did a thing, it was all Gwen’s thinking that saved him.

He just can’t believe the Woodscouts would dare do such a thing! At the very least they could notify the counselors that they would be taking a camper!

David hasn’t heard even one ounce of gloating from the Woodscouts victory. They haven’t even tried for a bet to try and usurp the whole camp...

Hm, actually now that he thinks about it, it almost seems too minor. The Woodscouts are an all or nothing bunch that only grow more extreme with their bets, trying to get the whole camp at once.

In fact, why did they leave the bear? Gwen very thoroughly told David the story of retrieving the bear, and how she solved the very stupid popcorn problem of the Woodscouts insanely quick. Then.. wouldn’t they only to take the bear? Why bother with Max? He’s given them much trouble in the past...

It doesn’t add up. How did they manage it with their poor communication skills? It doesn’t seem to be a plan that the Woodscouts would even come up with

Is it possible... just maybe.... the Woodscouts-

They got a new recruit!

Good for them! It’s a bit of a stretch he admits, especially since it’s the middle of summer vacation. However it’s the only thing David can think of that would bridge the large gap of bad communication and terrible plans that the Woodscouts are known for.

He’s not worried though. Gwen’s the responsible counselor. He knows she’ll bring Max back safely. Hah! He doesn’t think anything could scare Gwen, except the economical crisis, and a maniac with a knife. And there’s no maniacs running around! Nobody except Daniel and he’s... well, David’s not really sure where he is.

The sheriff never really came to incarcerate Daniel. He said something about ‘too many prank calls’ and ‘not falling for the psychopath trick again’ no matter what David said. By the time David decided to take things in his own hands, Daniel was long gone.

David wouldn’t tell that to the campers though! Especially Max! He’s sure Max was rattled from the experience last time and he didn’t want Max to worry, or any of the campers really. They would be terrified to think that there’s a cultist psychopath wandering the woods ready to snatch them up at any moment-

He stops. A thought clicks into his head.

His breathing stops entirely.

What if... the Woodscouts really didn’t have Max?

What if... Daniel took Max?

Oh.

Oh no. Nonononono. NO! Oh no, oh god. No, no no! Max- David hasn’t seen him in at least eighteen hours. Eighteen hours. It would only take eighteen seconds to- to-

Tears easily form- David was never good at holding in emotions- and overflow. If Daniel has him, then he would definitely make good on his promise of revenge. Daniel would...

No! Nothing is for certain yet. He could be wrong entirely! He could be letting fear take over rationale and be overreacting.

Something inside tells him he isn’t though. A quivering voice in his head tells him that the chance Daniel has Max is much greater than the Woodscouts actually accomplishing their task.

David quickly wipes his tears (and snot) on his neckerchief. He has to find Max, he has to find him so he can reassure himself that Max is fine and alive. He has to be.

Oh god, where does even start to look!? Gwen’s already scoured the entire woods, she mentioned it herself! And with the amount of time it’s been, Daniel could have taken Max far, far away from the campgrounds.

His whole body weakens. The thought just makes David want to curl up and bawl. He’s doesn’t know how to handle this! He doesn’t want Max to die!

He... doesn’t want Max to die.

So he can’t curl up and give up. He’s supposed to be responsible and take care of the campers. He loves them all dearly. He has to stop this, he can’t let Daniel hurt any of his cherished campers!

Where else could Daniel be that Gwen hasn’t looked? The island? No, David had the boats all afternoon, all the boats were accounted for and dry in the morning. If only he had a clue! Last time Daniel just knocked David out and dragged him to the bunker. But there’s no where else like the bunker on the camp grounds, except for the actual camp.

Wait. Now that he thinks about it, does Gwen know about the bunker? Maybe she doesn’t know? David starts breaking into a sprint. Maybe she couldn’t check there because she didn’t know about it! Maybe David knows where Max is!

David sprints with all the power he has in his thimbly legs. He hears a confused camper call out his name, but he can’t respond now. His focus is only on the tree roots, the branches, and not falling on his face in the next minute or so.

He almost misses the bunker entrance entirely. When he realizes he’s gone too far he quickly turns around, and that is when he sees the entrance, hidden by leaves and twigs. It would have been impossible to notice if David didn’t already know it was there.

It... wasn’t hidden like this before. It’s too unnatural to be a coincidence. The nature disguise was done on purpose. By human hands.

Someone... is here.

He twists open the entrance. Please, let this just be Max isolating himself for no reason. Let it just be a bad fight between friends that can be easily resolved when they go back to camp together.

The metal hatch creaks open. A small bit of sunlight illuminates the pool of darkness below.

He doesn’t hesitate to start climbing down the ladder. He can’t handle the uncertainty anymore, it’s driving him insane.

When he reaches the bottom of the ladder he comes face to face with the metal door. It’s set to ‘LOCK’ meaning if anyone is inside, they are trapped. He pulls the latch, and the door groans open.

“Max?”

The room is dark, save for a light illuminating a small spot in the room, the rest is hard to make out. In that bit of light, there’s the remains of a broken chair. David slowly approaches the chair, nausea swelling inside.

The chair. There’s blood on it. The floor, there’s plenty of blood on it as well. David retches, trying to hold the bile in his stomach.

No... Max isn’t here... Max is-

Sharp, physical, pain blossoms in the back of David’s head. He falls to his knees. Sparks fly across his vision. It’s not his emotions, no, someone with intention to hurt, is attacking him. David manages to stay conscious. He stumbles back to his feet, ready to defend himself from his assailant. Instead of another blow, there’s only the echoes of hastily retreating footsteps.

Huh? His assaulter is running away? Why? David remains dazed before his mind latches onto a frightening thought. The door! Oh god they’re going to lock him in! He scrambles back to his feet and races to the door.

In his desperation his foot catches onto... his other foot, and he loses balance. He reaches his arms out, grabbing nothing but air. He falls.

Ow… that hurts. David lifts his head, fighting the urge to give up and pass out. The silhouette is scrambling frantically towards the ladder to get out, and presumably trap David inside.

No! He needs to find Max! He can’t get stuck down here, his campers need him!

Fueled purely by willpower alone, he stumbles back to his feet and lunges blindly in the darkness for the figure.

Miraculously his arm lands directly into them. Or their head to be more accurate. It is only an instant that his hand is there but he realizes crucial information. Their hair is a bit course, but fluffy. At this height, the person would have to be crouching... or a child.

Wait. Is that…

"Max!" David cries out. All pain disappears from his thoughts, overwhelming joy and relief drowning out all else. He moves with every intention to lift Max into an embrace.

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Max shrieks. David’s eyes catch a quick movement. Pain explodes in David’s side, and he lurches back onto the ground. The shock is what drives him to the ground, not the pain from the blunt object, David’s been hit by a bus quite a few times after all. He doesn’t quite get it at first, but he realizes, Max is the one who struck him.

David is shocked speechless. He sits stunned on the floor, unable to process it. Max is angry? Why was he in there? Was it really Daniel who trapped him in there? Has Max been in here all day?

“Max come back! It’s me, David!”

Max completely ignores him, instead gunning for the ladder. Max steps, no limps, into the small pool of light underneath the ladder. David heart stops. In the little beams of light coming through, David can see the damage done. He can see the blood.

Max is hurt. Max is hurt and scared and is pushing himself beyond what any ten-year old should have to. David swallows his own emotions. He can’t get emotional now, he has to be there for Max.

“I’m here now, it’s okay! Let me help you!”

“Fuck you! FUCK YOU!” Max screams. He’s desperately trying to climb the ladder, but he’s moving slow, too slow to be normal. He’s not just hurt, he’s severely injured.

Oh no. Oh god.

David slowly walks toward Max, the same way he would to a wounded bird, “I promise I won’t hurt you.” Max doesn’t stop, “Please stop! You’re hurting yourself!”

“I’m not falling for that again I-” Max sniffs, “I’m not stupid enough to fall for that twice.” He clenches his jaw as he steps up a rung, hissing in pain when his palm connects.

“Again?” David asks aloud. What is he talking about?

Max ignores the question. He climbs faster, almost at the top of the short ladder.

He really wishes he had Gwen’s degree in psychology right now. Or just Gwen. Having Gwen here would help tremendously.

But he’s only David. He can only do what David can do.

David grabs the rungs of the ladder. If Max won’t listen, David has to use his specialty aggressive pacifism.

David puts his foot on the bottomost rung, just as Max climbs out of the hatch. The rungs are oddly slick. He looks down. A pair of smeared, red hand-prints are on it, on every rung. A new type of fear overtakes David.

“Come back!” David’s voice is going shrill, “You need medical attention!” He’s climbing as fast as he can. He’s almost at the top, he’s almost-

Max holds the hatch open, conflicted feelings surfacing throughout his face. A hope rises in David, and he lets his guard down, slowing his climb down. He’s almost at the top when Max the hatch slams shut. It barely misses crunching David’s fingers.

“No! Wait!”

The hatch closing isn’t really an issue, David pushes it open without much issue. It’s still light outside. He hops out immediately, getting on his feet as fast as he can. But he doesn’t see Max.

“Max!?” David cries out.

Where could he be!? He’s hurt badly and shouldn’t be running in conditions like this. He can’t be far! If he were Max, he would be heading toward camp, so that’s the way he’ll go. But it’s too far. The bunker’s out in the middle of nowhere he’ll collapse before he makes it!

David starts speed-walking towards camp furtively glancing around. He doesn’t want to accidentally miss Max while running by. He has to help him!

Tears drip from his eyes. How could he let this happen? How could anyone hurt Max like this?

Regret and grief churn in his gut. It was Daniel, wasn’t it? Only Daniel would have done something like this. He’s the only one whose attempted to kill Max before. Instead of anger, only an internal despair escalates. He should have followed up on Daniel’s disappearance. Whatever happens to Max now will be his fault. Max could have... died.

And Max knew it just as well. That’s why Max is angry, that’s why Max is running away. David didn’t come for him until it was almost too late.

A sob breaks out of David. He speeds up his movements towards the main campgrounds. Stupid, stupid! He has to be more responsible! He has to take care of his campers!

A twig snaps nearby, David whips his head. It must be Max! He shifts directions toward the sound. He sees the source of the sound. His heart drops. It’s a group of campers. Preston, Nurf and Space Kid.

They all notice David, in his ragged teary state. Preston is holding the plastic bag meant to hold the collected garbage, while Nurf and Space are holding a piece of garbage each.

“David!” Preston shouts, “As you can see we have already amassed the most garbage in the whole vicinity of camp! Nobody will top this! Hand over the-”

“Whoa dude. Are you okay?” Nurf interrupts, jarred from the sight of tears dripping down David’s face.

David sniffles, before turning into a bawling mess. At least, moreso than he was already. The three campers watch uncomfortably.

Space Kid clears his throat, “Gwen was looking for you a few minutes back. I think she’s still around here somewhere.”

Gwen?

David’s emotion-ridden brain takes a moment to process the word. His teary eyes light up with a small hope when he stumbles upon another thought.

He’s not alone. He has the most responsible, logical, stubborn counselor as a partner. Gwen always perseveres. Whether it’s for her job, or for her own mental sanity, she always comes through!

David can’t give up now!

He has to find Max!

~~~

 

Where the FUCK did Max go?

Gwen’s walking around the forest, an unpleasant encounter with the Woodscout’s still fresh in her mind.

She was so certain he would be there! There’s literally nowhere else Max could be! The Woodscouts abducting him is the only thing that makes sense and yet she was wrong! The bear’s odd placement sounded straight-up like a trap to lure Max out, it makes perfect sense! And if it wasn’t Max, who the fuck else would possibly do it!? While Max has few friends, he doesn’t have enemies who would go to this level of kidnapping!

Dammit. It’s looking more and more likely Max got attacked by a bear. He probably went on a midnight bathroom break- hence both jackets being in the tent- and got mauled by wildlife there. It still wouldn’t explain the his stuffed teddy-bear at the flag, but it’s the closest second option she’s got.

Unless there’s an unknown third party, there’s nothing else she could possibly think of.

She massages her temples, trying to stay focused. Worry forms a knot in her stomach. At least with all the campers looking, there’s more ground covered. Someone is bound to stumble upon Max, if he’s just lost that is.

Fuck. This is looking bad. The sun is already starting to sink in the sky, and if nobody finds Max by sundown, she’ll have to send the rest of the campers back to bed. She’s not going to risk losing anyone else. After that, David will watch over the campers at camp, and she’ll continue looking. She hates working overtime for this stupid camp, but this isn’t work anymore. This is something worth much more than a paycheck.

She continues trudging through the woods. She had to scold Harrison earlier for pulling more garbage out of his hat to litter the woods. Then Nurf’s group was gathering stuff that wasn’t garbage. When will she ever learn that she should not entrust her problems to a bunch of children?

A thud sounds from her left. She waits for a moment. No laughter follows. That means it’s either David, or a camper couldn’t follow rules and split up from their group. Likely the latter.

She walks over, fully prepared to scold them. What were they thinking!? It’s easy to get lost in the woods, especially when venturing deeper into the woods, like they are right now. She should have mentioned breaking the rules is an automatic disqualification.

She turns her head, spotting in the distance a familiar yellow t-shirt with it’s wearer faceplanted into the ground. A floof of black hair, distinguishes exactly who it is.

She almost doesn’t believe her eyes. After being missing the entire goddamn day, Max just shows up out of nowhere.

There was only one reaction she could have had.

“You piece of SHIT!” She stomps her way over, “Where the FUCK have you been!? Do you know how worried I’ve-” her voice catches in her throat.

All anger disappears instantly. She can’t see much from this angle, but she can see the rope burn. The rope burn that runs all across both his arms,

She rushes to him, visibly alarmed “What the fuck!?”

Max shakily gets up into a sitting position, “I’m fine.” he mutters weakly, “Just get me out of here.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.” She crouches down, “Hop on my back. I’ll take you back to camp.”

Max numbly obliges. No arguing or even a sarcastic remark. He just crawls onto Gwen’s back.

Gwen stands up, adjusting to the new weight. Her mouth goes dry. What the fuck happened to Max? She’s happy that he’s alive, but the kid smells like blood and sweat.

She walks towards camp, becoming increasingly aware of every noise in the woods. It wasn’t an animal that did this to Max. It was very clearly a person with intentions to hurt. She can’t fight them off if they come at her now. Max needs immediate medical attention, and she doesn’t have a weapon on her. If they’re unlucky enough, she’ll just have to run.

She whips out her phone with one hand, “I need an ambulance pronto!... Yes, this is Camp Campbell and I have a severely injured camper here... Do I sound like I’m motherfucking joking!? If you don’t believe me, you’re the one going to need a fucking ambulance... What do you mean one hour?! Yes I know it’s the middle of nowhere!...fine. I’ll be waiting at the entrance.” She ends the call with an aggravated tap.

When they get back to the main camp, she’ll treat the more serious of Max’s injuries.

She doesn’t know who did this. But dammit, she will hunt this motherfucker down and fucking kill them for hurting Max like this.

Interrupting her thoughts of murderous revenge, is David’s voice.

“Hey! Wait!” She looks to her left, and sees David running towards her.

A wave of relief awashes Gwen, “David! Oh thank fucking god you’re here. We’ve got an emergency on our hands.”

David eyes dart right to Max curled up on her back, “You found Max!” he sounds overjoyed. Gwen grimaces, he won’t be too happy when he sees the condition Max is in.

She speaks quieter, “It’s not great David. I’ve already called an ambulance to take him to a hospital, but we need to gather the rest of the campers back to their tents where I know they’ll be safe.”

David’s eyes widen, “An ambulance? It’s that bad?”

“Yeah, it is.”

David straightens up, calmer than Gwen would have expected, “I’ll take care of Max! I’ve got longer legs, and you’re better at wrangling up the campers.”

“Sorry David, I really don’t want to jostle him around too much, I’ll take him from here.”

A look of panic glimmers in David’s eyes, his gaze move to Max “Please I can’t possibly leave his side while he’s like this! I- Oh god his arms-” he takes a deep breath, face twisting in agony, “I need to see that he gets all the help he needs... Please.”

Gwen frowns. She doesn’t want to leave Max either, but out of the two of them, she would be better to stay with the other campers.

“Okay.” She relents, “Just be careful. The ambulance is going to arrive at the entrance in about an hour. Just give him some basic first-aid until then.”

Davids eyes light up, “Don’t worry! I’ll do everything in my power to help.” He takes a step closer.

Gwen huffs, “Don’t overdo it. That’s what the ambulance is for. We don’t want to accidentally make it worse.”

“Of course.”

It’s a bit awkward trying to transfer Max to David but they manage it. Max doesn’t stir from the movements. He remains limp like a ragdoll.

Once Max is settled on David’s back, David gives her a serious look, “I’ll take care of Max, so please make sure the other campers are safe.”

She blinks in surprise, “Yeah. Of course.”

David gives her a small smile before quickly turning around and heading off.

David seemed rather... calm. She underestimated David. In times of crisis, he can be surprisingly reliable. After seeing him cry over extremely trite matters, she’s forgotten the times he has really come through.

She walks off, determined to find the rest of the campers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that Gwen never meets Daniel, or really knows anything more than that he's a David lookalike that she had to use all her vacation days for. Also, another friendly reminder that I fucking love Gwen.
> 
> It turns out this fic is going to be a bit longer than I initially thought, but hey! More content! Again, a deep thank you to all my readers who have taken time out of their day to read my fic. It was a very happy surprise to see that so many people enjoyed it! 
> 
> Until the next update, have a good time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max reflects on his mistakes. Gwen returns to camp.

It’s warm.

Max’s mind slowly wakes but his eyes remain shut. He dully registers the feeling of movement. He’s being carried. It makes him feel small.

Right. Gwen found him. He’s safe.

It’s over now. He’s safe. He reassures himself. The various cuts and bruises are the worst that will happen to him tonight. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s typical camp bullshit that will go away by the next day. It was only bad luck that it got this bad. As soon as they get to camp, Gwen will slap some disinfectant, bandage him up, and everything will go back to normal. Sure, he’ll be sore for a few days, but it’s just the typical shitty camp shenanigans. He’s already been kidnapped by the Wood scouts and put through their bitter “rookie regiment” routine. This time was only a bit scarier.

Even though the other campers will undeniably bother him about his injuries, that’s a worry for another day. He can be defensive and hostile about it later. He doesn’t need anybody’s pity or concern... but now he’s too tired to really fight it. Just this once he’ll rely on them. 

He’s been unconscious for a bit... It shouldn’t be much longer before they reach camp. Fuck, he wish he was still unconscious. That was so much easier. He really can’t think straight with all these injuries. The weird rotten chemical smell isn’t helping either. Did Gwen go on a date with another monster? The hell has she been doing all day? Whatever, he really can’t bring himself to care. This is too stupid a train of thought to continue.

All that matters is that Gwen has him- and in that scenario, he’s safe.

Gwen’s strong. There’s no chance Daniel could impersonate her. Her personality, voice and looks would be too much for him. Half the reason Daniel can disguise himself as David is because they already look eerily similar.

He still trusts David. That hasn’t changed. He doesn’t trust Daniel- and if he can’t tell the difference- he can’t- he can’t risk making the same mistake again. 

He couldn’t believe how fucking stupid he was! Daniel left the room with a shovel, and then David comes in holding the exact same fucking shovel!? What kind of braindead idiot is he!? He was too goddamn relieved to think straight. He had his chance to escape right then and there if he just shoved ‘David’ aside when ‘David’ undid his binds. Max could’ve run away free. Instead, he ran straight into his arms- wanting to be reassured and not to be alone. 

Daniel really let him believe it too. Daniel held him, had tears in his eyes, crooning how much it must have hurt, how it was all okay now that he was here. And Max just fucking trusted him! He didn’t even want to consider that it wasn’t David and that he was still in danger. He just sank into the hug and held onto him, the tears he was holding onto before were finally streaking down his face. Max couldn’t stop the sobs as he cried into David’s shirt. He was just so relieved and so fucking happy to see someone came for him- that someone noticed he was gone- that it wasn’t true that nobody cared about him.

“What happened to you?” Daniel asked in a shaking voice. As if he fucking cared about what happened to him, “Who did this to you?”

Max could barely speak through his shaking voice, “Your bleached clone,” he takes a shuddering breath, “Your stupid fucking cultist clone.” He can’t say the name, doesn’t want to say the name. He just wants to fall asleep and forget this ever happened. 

“Max, I’m so sorry.” Daniel said, softy stroking his back in a calming pattern, “I’m so sorry I let this happen.”

Even in the moment, Max knew he would be embarrassed over this later, but he really could not give a shit. He held onto ‘David’ like he was a lifeline. He couldn't even remember the last time he’d let himself be so vulnerable around another human being. ‘David’ was just so warm and Max was as cold as a corpse with how much blood he’d lost.

They were sitting like that for a while, Max crying into Daniel’s shirt, and Daniel soothingly rubbing his back. Only when Max’s sobs finally died down did Daniel try to talk to him.

“Max,” Daniel said ever so softly, “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but could you show me your hands?” His voice was cracking, as if he too was hurting. Max reluctantly leaned out of the hug, standing back on his feet and gingerly held out his bloodied hands- too much blood to even see the “joke” inscribed. Daniel gasped, looking horrified at the sight before him. As if he wasn’t the fucking monster who did this to him

Daniel ever so slowly reaches his hands out to gingerly hold Max’s left hand, carefully looking at the gory bloody sight before him. Max’s small hands looked even smaller next to Daniel’s large palm. Still moving with slow caution, David’s fingers slowly take hold over Max’s thumb-

Right before snapping it backwards.

Max heard the bone break before he felt it. He stumbled backwards, away from Daniel. It barely registered in his mind that David had just broken his thumb. Instead of fear, he was just confused. He didn’t understand. Somehow his mind was trying to find rational in fixing a bleeding wound on the palm by breaking the thumb. His feet failed him and he fell onto the floor. Instead of getting up and running past David toward the _open_ door, he just lifted his hand to look at his thumb. The sight of his gnarled swelling thumb incited no reaction. He felt completely numb.

He barely had a moment to lift his arms to defend himself against the shovel coming at him. He could still hear echoes of Daniel hysterically laughing with David’s voice, barely audible over his own screaming. 

His unbroken arm grips a little tighter around Gwen.

Daniel didn’t bother to tie back up. He left Max writhing in pain and locked him in the room. Daniel was so sure he would succeed in the end that he didn’t bother using any more caution with Max. There wasn’t anything in the room he could use as a weapon. Daniel even took the rope Max was previously tied up in. The only objects in the room was the overhead light and the chair.

He shudders. He really shouldn’t be thinking about this. It’s not a big deal. By the end of the tomorrow he’ll already be past this mentally. Physically might be a bit longer, but Ered got over her broken leg fast, he’d probably heal just as fast.

Yeah. He’ll heal and it’ll all be fine. Sure this might be nightmare fuel for a few days, but he’s alive and safe. He still has all his limbs, bloody as some of them may be. He’s lucky to be alive. He should be grateful.

A part of him scoffs at this.

If he was really lucky, none of this would have ever happened.

~~~

Gwen huffs in frustration. Why did she think having separate the campers all over the woods looking for trash and Max was a good idea? While he managed to get two groups back into camp in a little under an hour, there was still one group that wasn’t back, and that was Nikki’s group. With an incentive like candy, Nikki is probably going apeshit over the whole scavenger hunt. It doesn’t matter how rational her partners Neil or Dolf are either. They’re both kids, and all kids love candy. They could be anywhere at this rate.

As soon as she finds them, she can go back to camp and call David to see if they reached the hospital yet. 

“GWEN!” Nikki’s voice shouts.

Gwen turns to see Nikki sprinting towards her, with Neil and Dolf in tow. 

Nikki’s eyes are sparkling, a clear warning mischief was afoot, “Are we going on a treasure hunt tomorrow!?”

“Nikki!” Neil elbows her harshly, “Shut up!”

Gwen sighs tiredly, “Nikki please. I don’t have time for games. The garbage hunt is over, it’s time we go back to camp.”

Nikki starts shaking Gwen’s leg “What’s the treasure? Are we going to go fighting pirates on the lake to find the map? Are we going t-”

Gwen rubs her temples, “Nikki, please not now. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Dolf eyes seem to sparkle at that, “Then it is un secret treasure hunt! I can hardly vait!”

“Guys seriously!” Neil hisses, “If we want a head start, then stop talking about it!”

Gwen narrows her eyes, she has no idea what any of them are talking about, but can’t get distracted now, “It’s way past dinnertime guys. Can we go back to camp without anymore nonsense?”

Nikki dramatically gasps, “You’re going to keep it all for yourself, aren’t you!” she points a finger accusingly, “That’s why there’s blood on you! You already killed the pirates and are going to bury the treasure for yourself!” 

Gwen looked down, and sure enough, there was a bit of blood on her shirt from carrying Max earlier. She swallows thickly. All the more reason to get them back to camp _now_. 

“Do you want to know if you won the chocolate or not?”

Nikki’s hackles lower, “...I will expose your murderous ways! But later! Mark my wordssss.” her words are more playful than anything. If Nikki knew what had really happened, she would not be smiling.

Gwen doesn’t waste time with a response and guides them back to the camp. Nikki keeps whispering conspiratorially at Neil, but Gwen doesn’t pay her any mind. She’s more concerned with the other campers. If something hurt Max that badly, the other campers are at risk as well. She’ll lie about some wild zoo animal and force all the campers to sleep in the counselors cabin while the police scour the campgrounds.

Plus there’s the issue with Max’s condition. She’s itching to give David a phone call right this second. She can’t though. She doesn’t want the other campers overhearing the conversation. Once she secures everyone else and has some privacy, she can get a status update on Max. They should already be well on their way to the hospital by now.

By the time they reach the camp, the sun is barely peaking from the edge is horizon. The loud clamoring and screams sounding from the mess hall reassure Gwen that everything is mostly normal. 

She starts ushering the remaining children with her toward the mess hall, “Alright, scram. Go eat dinner with the rest of the campers.”

“But who won?” Neil pipes up.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow morning after we count them all out.”

Satisfied with that answer, they all scurry off, with Dolf being the only one politely saying goodbye. Quartermaster takes them into the mess hall, vaguely annoyed. 

Gwen whips out her phone and wastes no time speed-dialing David. It dials a few times before his cheerful voicemail sounds. She hangs up the phone and redials. He still doesn’t pick up. 

She does the next best thing. She dials the police. 

She had been rehearsing the lines in her head while guiding the last few campers back. While she definitely needed to call the police, almost guiltily, she couldn't stop the small bit of her worrying about the financial lawsuit that might effectively close down the camp and run her out of a job.

It only takes her a few seconds to get on the line with the police. 

“Hello, this is a counselor from Camp Campbell speaking. I would like to report a case of assault. One of my campers was severely injured and I believe the individual responsible is likely still on the premise.”

“ _Alright._ ” The voice on the receiver is gruff, “ _Is there more than one perpetrator involved?_ ”

“I don’t know.”

“ _Did you see any of the perpetrators?_ ”

“No.”

“ _Are all members of your camp secured inside the main buildings?_ ”

“No.”

“ _Who is out of contact?_ ”

“Another counselor by the name of David.”

“ _Anyone else?_ ”

“No.”

The conversation is stiff and he continues asking her questions. She’s almost embarrassed with how little she knows, but at the very least, she is happy to hear that the police officer is taking her seriously, and not accusing her of a prank call. 

Eventually, the police stops asking questions, “ _Roger. We will send four police officers to search the area. Police will arrive within two hours._ ”

Her shoulders sag. Two hours? She knows better than to argue, and is too tired to do so even if she wanted to.

“I understand, please try and hurry. I don’t want any other campers getting hurt.”

“ _We’ll do our best Ma’am._ ” The police officer hangs up, and Gwen sits, staring blankly at her phone.

It’s taken a while for this to all sink in, but now that she’s sitting here, fresh from calling the police, a numb feeling overtakes her. One of her campers was literally tortured by some monster in these woods, and she sent all the other campers out looking. She got lucky. She just risked every other camper’s life because she underestimated the threat. Sure, she hates this job and, at best, tolerates most the campers, but she’s still a decent fucking human being. She’d never forgive herself if she let any of the _literal children_ die while she was supposed to be caring for them.

She goes back to her phone, ready to try and call David again. If he doesn’t pick up, she’ll go back to help Quartermaster with the kids and shuffle them back into the counselors cabin. It’s one of the few buildings that has secure locks on the doors. She can bring half of the kids into her dorm, and the other half into David’s with Quartermaster looking after them. It’s going to be a long night for everyone, but hopefully the police will be able to sort out the issue themselves.

She speed-dials David’s number again. David still doesn’t pick up. Maybe Max stole it and hid it under a rock somewhere, she wouldn’t put it past the little shit. With a huff, she stands up and stretches. While she’s worried about Max, none of his injuries looked close to fatal. She should prioritize, and that means taking care of the remaining campers.

She heads straight to the mess hall, bracing herself to deal with nine overactive children.

"Gwen!" The voice stops her in her tracks.

Confused, she looks at her phone. It stopped dialing long ago. That didn’t come from her phone.

The voice yells, closer “Gwen!!” Horrified, she whips her head to the source and sees David running toward her.

"David!?" She suddenly feels nauseous, as if this is only the beginning of her nightmare.

David seems to sense this, and quickly goes to reassure her, “Before you say anything, Max is safe. I saw him off from the ambulance car.” He quickly waves his hand dismissively, “They didn’t want me in the car because I wasn’t legally in charge of the camp, therefore not the supposed ‘temporary guardian’ of the patient.”

Gwen’s shoulders release in relief, “Oh thank god. I thought something went wrong or- actually whatever. I’m so glad you’re back here. I need some help managing the kids. I have them safely locked up in the mess hall right now.”

“Locked up?” He narrows his eyes, “Why?”

“Well,” Gwen laughs nervously, “This sounds kind’ve crazy, but I think there’s some sort of psychopath or pedophile in the woods targeting children. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt from this.”

David’s eyes bug out, “You think there’s a criminal up here? That... does make a lot of sense. I mean- all those injuries...” David winces painfully.

“Yeah.” Gwen swallows thickly, “Actually, I’m kind’ve worried that someone else is going to hurt the other children and I was hoping you could help me look after them.”

David nods stoically, “I’ll do that. You look completely run ragged Gwen. I can take care of everything from here on out. You should go back to your cabin to recuperate.”

Gwen scoffs, as if David’s suggestion was entirely laughable “No, I’ll come and help you, I don’t think you can handle all those kids while they’re hyped up on the promise of candy.”

“Actually Gwen, I have something I need to give you.” David’s looking at the ground almost sorrowfully.

The implications are not good, “What did you find?” 

David lifts his arm to show Gwen what was in his hand, “This.” 

It looks like a radio. Gwen slowly and cautiously takes it from him, as if it’s a detonator. Upon closer inspection she sees it’s actually an audio recorder, as evidenced by the “RECORD” button. She turns it on. There’s only one recording in the log, but it has a whopping eight hours worth of footage. 

She’s about to play it when David stops her, “Wait, you shouldn’t play that here. It has some... rather disturbing content on it.” His voice is oddly calm, “I’d recommend you go to your cabin or somewhere private if you want to listen to it- No actually, I need you to listen to it now. I can’t stomach listening to that- and I think it’s important to know what’s on it. You’ll know why as soon as you listen to it.”

She glances at the device in her hand. It’s paused nineteen seconds into it. Whatever David heard, it was apparently enough to upset him this far.

She already has a terrible feeling about this, but after what David says, it’s not like she can refuse. He’s already proven he’s more capable than she initially gave him credit for, she might as well put some more trust in him.

“Alright, I’ll listen to this for an hour or two until it’s time to tuck in the kids. We’re putting them in our cabins just so that way they’ll have a safe place to rest for the night until the police arrive.”

David’s eyebrows shoot up, “You called the police?”

Gwen’s own eyebrows twist in confusion, “Yeah. I thought that was a good thing?”

David pauses for a moment, nodding slowly, “How long until they arrive?”

“A little less than two hours or so.” Gwen replies, she’s almost about to tell him there’s only four police officers coming, but thinks better of it, “They said they’re sending a full force to scour the woods. I have no doubt they’ll get the guy responsible.” she lies.

“That’s great Gwen, I’m so glad I have you to help me through this.” he beams at her, “Well, I should probably go take care of the campers now!” His smile wavers as he takes a more solemn tone of voice, “Please just listen to the recording. One of us really needs to listen to it as much as we can.”

“Okay. But if anything gets out of hand, please come to me for help. I know how awful you can be when it comes to camp emergencies.” The words are out of her mouth before she realizes how belittling it sounds. Fuck she sounds so condescending and ungrateful after how rational and calm David’s been this whole time.

David however, doesn’t seemed phased at all by this and instead gives her a soft smile “Of course Gwen. I’ll be sure to do that.” He doesn’t waste a second in heading towards the mess hall, a determined look in his eyes as he walks away.

“Thanks David...” Gwen quietly says to herself more than anything. 

Only when she’s back in her own cabin and securely locked the door does she dare to press the play button. There’s a crackle of static sounds before the recording resumes from where it was last 

_“-rry Max. I’ve secured you away in a place where nobody will ever find you.”_ Gwen recognizes the voice, but it’s like deja vu, she can’t place a face to the name.

“Can you at least try to not be a stereotypical madman? Can’t you be at least a little more original?”

“So snarky. You don’t seem to understa-” 

Gwen stops the recording, “That son of a bitch.” Eight hours. There’s eight hours on this recording. At least eight hours Max was trapped alone with the psychopath. She shivers. That creep knew Max’s name. Not only that, there’s an odd familiarity Max has when talking to this man too. This isn’t a one-off encounter. That itself is a frightening prospect. 

All the answers could be on this device. She doesn’t know how David got his hands on this, but this could be absolutely critical.

She takes a deep shaky breath. 

And presses resume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the wait was worth it! It's shorter than originally planned, but I decided to cut up the fic slightly differently, meaning a longer next chapter. I have to say though, there are some _very interesting_ predictions. There's more hints as to what is to come in this chapter and I'm sure some of you are going to pick up on it. 
> 
> Thank you again for taking the time to read this fic. ♡♡


End file.
